Arietta

Long response: For soup, I most often use a few vegetables as a foundation, seasoning it ethnically or regionally or according to the meat I do or don't decide to add. (I used to think the meat should be predominant, with vegetables as filler, but I've changed that around.) If I use tomatoes, whether fresh or store-bought canned, I drain them very well before adding, to keep a more clear broth and less of a strong tomato taste---which it took me 45 years of cooking to figure out. Chili Verde (Colorado's popular Green Chili) is really just a Mexican pork stew or soup, and I make that very often, for smothering filled burritos or eating with tortillas. In a couple of weeks I'll make a pot of Brunswick Stew for freezing in small batches, using my mother's recipe, which she made for church suppers in Georgia, for decades (only corn and tomatoes, no other vegetables). I also make chicken stew, with varying spices and herbs. I especially like chicken or pork, cooked tender with cilantro and lime, before adding it to vegetables in a broth for final simmering. From the time I was a young teenage cook, I have simmered traditional stew ingredients together and served with rolls or biscuits. Everyone loved it, but I felt it could be better. Now, as a result of cooking with my daughter and re-reading recipes by professionals I admire, I try to cook in a way that lets individual items show and be tasted, as well as being part of the whole dish. It's still a stew or soup that everyone loves, but I like it better. I'm still working on developing an appreciation for a wider range of ingredients!

The research conclusions may have been accurate (they have seemed somewhat intuitive) but his methods and documentation didn't follow best practices. He might have succumbed to the temptation to be a "celebrity" researcher--doing surveys about topics that are most likely to provide fodder for websites and other media. We could re-write the old proverb, to say, "Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make very popular on talk shows and the Internet." I think the most unfortunate aspect of it, is that it increases the tendency to discount any and all research or results as "fake." (And I'm very tired of hearing that word.)

Thanks for the welcome notes....the lovely Arietta music and the greetings! I cook many southern dishes: cooked greens, southern-style noodles, stews, soups, simmered meat with gravy, biscuits and desserts. I also cook Colorado-style chili verde, queso fundido, sopitos and flan. My daughter uses fresh herbs and vegetables, carrot tops, beet tops, squash blossoms and similar ingredients, along with free-range and organic meats and poultry and homemade pasta, to develop delicious dishes, in which every flavor comes through. I was an avid reader of the first Joy of Cooking editions and James Beard's Cookbook, she uses Cooks Illustrated and food magazines for inspiration. We'll both enjoy eGullet, I'm sure!

I read a 2011 post by member David Ross, and the comments that followed, and was impressed with the overall sound of both, as well as the look of the site (without banner ads, pop-ups and monetizing links.) My daughter is a fabulous cook, creating things my own mother and I would have never tried (or had the ingredients to work with). However, she and her husband and my grandson, love my more basic but very tasty dishes. We learn from each other and I thought this site would assist us as we continue to put love in our food. We both travel a great deal for business, so time in the kitchen is limited. But, if we're going to cook, we want an excellent product! I'm looking forward to reading and sometimes participating. Arietta (My name was already taken, so I chose my mother's name, in her honor!)